Scheduled orders let a customer book a collection or delivery time for later instead of ordering for right now. Handy for a lunch pre-order or a dinner booked in the morning. This article covers turning the feature on, the two settings behind it, and how a scheduled order reaches your kitchen.
Turn it on
The setting lives under Settings → Ordering, in the Scheduled orders section. If you run more than one branch, you set it per location, so one site can take pre-orders while another doesn't.
- Switch on Accept scheduled orders.
- Set Max days ahead: how far in advance a customer can book, from 1 to 30 days.
- Set Promote to Waiting (minutes before slot): how long before the booked time the order should land in front of the kitchen, from 5 to 240 minutes.
- Press Save changes.
What the customer sees
At checkout, the customer chooses between ordering ASAP and picking a future slot. Either way they pay straight away: a scheduled order is a normal paid order, just with a time attached. They can only pick slots that fall within your opening hours, and if the location is temporarily closed, no slots show at all.
How it reaches the kitchen
A scheduled order doesn't clutter your live queue the moment it's placed. It sits quietly until shortly before its time, then gets promoted so your staff can start preparing it. The Promote to Waiting setting controls how early that happens: set it to 50 and the order surfaces 50 minutes before the slot. Pick a number that matches how long your busiest orders take to make.
Once promoted, the order behaves like any other and moves through the normal status flow.
Choosing the settings
- Max days ahead is about how far you're willing to commit. Three days suits most kitchens; a venue taking party orders might stretch it.
- Promote to Waiting is about prep time. Too short and the kitchen is rushed; too long and orders pile up early. Start around your average ticket time and adjust.
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Need a hand?
Customers can't pick a future time even though it's switched on? Check your opening hours are set for that day and the location isn't marked temporarily closed, since slots only appear within open hours. Still stuck? Email support@menudock.co.uk with your store name.